Geno Auriemma has never focused on the mind-boggling streaks that Connecticut has put up over the last few years.
To him, the goal every year is a championship.
Yet, after seeing another two of the Huskies' amazing runs end Saturday night in a 57-56 loss to St. John's, it was virtually impossible for the Hall of Fame coach to ignore the unbelievable numbers Connecticut has etched in the record books.
''We've done some things that the average person and other basketball coaches find incredulous,'' he said. ''That can't be possible and yet we've done it. It's a blessing and a curse. It's great that we've been able to put up those kind of numbers and shows the consistency of our program day in and day out.''
He wasn't shocked that the second-ranked Huskies lost to Red Storm, ending their record 99-game home winning streak and a string of 261 straight victories at home over non-ranked opponents. After all, St. John's outplayed them in nearly every facet of the game. The Red Storm forced 18 turnovers that led to 20 easy points, took 14 more shots and corralled 17 offensive rebounds.
''You almost hate to say it, but it was the perfect storm for them,'' Auriemma said. ''The funny part about it is if you hold a team to 57 points you're supposed to win that game,'' he said. ''Losses are part of the game itself. If you think you're going to win every game at home, at some point you got to say it's not possible. It's not realistic.''
Nobody has defended its home better than UConn over the past two decades - especially against unranked teams.
UConn's last loss at home against a non-Top 25 opponent in 1993 to Louisville in the NCAA tournament. Few teams have had success at all in Storrs, with St. John's becoming only the fifth team to win on campus since 1993, joining Tennessee, Georgia, Notre Dame and Rutgers.
The Red Storm, who have won seven of their last eight games - the lone loss coming to then-No. 2 Notre Dame - haven't had much success anywhere against the Huskies. They lost their last 27 meetings before Saturday's win.
Saturday night was set up to be a celebration of another UConn milestone - 100 straight home wins. Tiffany Hayes, the lone senior on the team, was honored before the contest in the last game played on campus for the Huskies. She had won her first 78 games at home and was in high school the last time the Huskies lost there.
''It's just a loss period, you never want to lose especially at home, on a day like this,'' she said. ''It's still a loss, so it's going to feel like another loss no matter what.''
Hayes hasn't had to bounce back too many times in her stellar career, losing only five games in four years.
But losing seems to be an expectation at UConn.
''You saw our fans. There's probably a sense of entitlement, you watch them at Gampel and they expect you are going to win and win by a lot, there's stunned silence when you don't,'' Auriemma said. ''Days like today are a reminder that you're only supposed to win when you play really well and beat the other team. We didn't deserve to win. I don't care if we won 900 in a row at home,'' Auriemma said. ''Leading up to that last shot, if that shot goes in - hey that's 100 in a row. Realistically, though, St. John's outplayed us today. They did what they wanted to do better than what we wanted to do. It was a fitting end for them.''
The Huskies last lost at home on March 6, 2007, falling to Rutgers in the Big East championship game. The NCAA counts the Huskies' postseason games in Hartford and Storrs as home games. With the UConn men's loss earlier in the day to No. 12 Marquette in Hartford, it marked the first time that both Huskies teams lost at home on the same day since Feb. 27, 1993.
The Huskies got little offense from their stars. Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Tiffany Hayes were a combined 11 for 32 from the field.
Trailing by two with 16 seconds left, Nadirah McKenith drove the lane and kicked it out to Shenneika Smith, who hit a 3-pointer from the wing 8 seconds later to give the Red Storm (18-8, 10-3) the lead.
''When (coach) wrote the play up, I hadn't hit one all day and this was the going to be the one I hit,'' said Smith, who had only made three of her 22 3-point attempts this season before that shot.
UConn (24-3, 11-2) had one final chance, but Hartley's 3-point attempt from the corner was short, setting off a wild celebration at midcourt by the Red Storm.
The Huskies became the latest high-ranked team to lose to an unranked opponent. West Virginia shocked Notre Dame last weekend and Alabama upset No. 7 Kentucky.
''Isn't it great for women's basketball?'' St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said. ''It's unbelievable and great for our game, our game is growing. When I first started here, people were losing by 50 or 60 night in and night out. It says women's basketball has come a long way and there is a lot of parity in the game.''
The Huskies had shattered their own Division I record of 69 straight home wins that they shared with Tennessee. UConn set the overall women's record in November by beating Dayton and passing Division III Rust (Miss.) College, which won 88 straight at home from 1982-89. All but two of those wins during UConn's streak have come by double digits and 35 of them by more than 40.
Stanford now has the longest active streak at 76 games, which includes last year's win that snapped UConn's record 90-game overall winning streak.
The home streak began in the first round of the 2007 NCAAs with an 82-33 win over Maryland-Baltimore County in Storrs.
UConn still has one amazing streak left: The Huskies haven't lost consecutive games since 1993. They will try and keep that going on Tuesday when they visit Pittsburgh.
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Follow Doug Feinberg on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Dougfeinberg
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Associated Press Writer Pat Eaton-Robb contributed to this report.
